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"In Jesus' name we pray, Amen." Is this just habit, a formal closing in public prayer? Or, is it a powerful declaration that we who pray in that name are in him to whom that name belongs? Well, Christians from the time of Christ onward have prayed in the name of God's Son. But only for the past two-hundred years or so has that name been relegated to the end of every prayer. Even though in many prayers it may be added as an afterthought, a nice closing that informs others in the room the prayer is about to end, the practice itself became popular during this modern era when the deity of the Son was being everywhere challenged. Ending petitions to the Father in the name of Jesus was a way for orthodox Christians to defend his divinity.
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If we would seek to preach to the mind, we also must encourage those in our hearing to receive the Word preached with their minds. The habits of their hearts will be shaped by the habits of their minds. If, strangely, they listen only to check the preacher's level of orthodoxy, if they seek only to have their intellects tickled, if they attend to preaching only that they might show forth their own erudition, it is not their minds but their egos that are not being preached to. Just as a deep and complex sermon, rather than a simple and straightforward one, can be a sign of a preacher getting in the way, a deep and complex analysis of a sermon by the adept layman can be a sign of a congregant getting in the way. Our minds always need to be exhorted to beware our propensity for ego.
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The ministry of the prophet Micah began during the reign of the Judean king Jotham (750-732) and lasted until the reign of Hezekiah (729-686). His ministry, unlike that of Amos or Hosea, overlapped the fall of the northern kingdom. He prophesied the fall of Israel and lived to witness it. Following the fall of the northern kingdom, Micah prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah. There are a number of helpful commentaries on the book of Micah, and the following are five of the best.
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My dad hasn't been to seminary. He has no formal theological training. Nobody pays him and Mom for their endless hours serving the church. But they could write an article on sacrificial service to the church. They've lived it.
Pop is a dentist in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He and Mom moved to town in the late seventies after dental school and a couple years practicing on marines. They didn't know anyone when they arrived. They visited churches, soon found one, and have been there for over three decades now.
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"You're out!" "I'm safe!" "Out!" "Safe!" "Out!" "It's my ball, and it's my bat, and I say that I'm safe." This is how we settled disputes over plays in our pickup baseball games played without the benefit of a referee or umpire. When a disputed play could not be resolved through reason or through yelling, the one who possessed the equipment usually determined the outcome. It was a child's game in which might made right. It was the nascent expression of the cynical statement: "He who owns the gold, rules."
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"Matt, I don't understand how you and Steve can be a part of the same church given what you each believe and practice." This came from a young woman with whom my wife and I had been sharing the gospel.
"I don't understand," I replied.
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I am terribly vexed. I have just finished reading an article from the notoriously left-wing magazine Newsweek. In the cover story, "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage," author Lisa Miller argues the case for gay "marriage" using the Bible as her authority. Miller opens with this line: "Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does." She later asserts, "The Bible gives us no good reason to oppose gay marriage."
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When we look at manuals, books, magazines, seminars, and conferences addressed to pastors, we notice that preaching, if included at all, is most often not the priority. When we hear people speak about how to grow a church and build a great congregation, few and far between are those who say it comes essentially by the preaching of the Word. We know why this is so.
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The historical context of Paul's epistles to the Thessalonians is found in Acts 17:1-10. This narrative recounts Paul's work in the city of Thessalonica during his second missionary journey. While there he spoke in the synagogue, persuading some Jews and even more God-fearing Gentiles that Jesus was the promised Messiah. There are a number of helpful commentaries on the Thessalonian epistles, and the following are five of the best.
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